It has been a long week as I set out on one of our biggest investigations and expeditions of the year as we searched for vortexes, bigfoot, ghosts, and other strange things that occur in the Kinzua area of the Allegheny forest in Pennsylvania.
 
What your about to read is a story of courage, friendship, strength, failure and glory. There is a lot of personal reasons why I did this investigation as it was a 6 day event. One of those being that I wanted to spend time gathering more evidence that something strange is happening up in the Kinzua area mountains. But I also made another trip to the NY catacombs and caves. I did find other entrances so definitely it was a huge success.
 
But I also wanted to go up there to meet Jill who has donated for recent trips and spend time with our PA investigators. Honestly I am not sure I will ever go back up to PA or NY again due to personal reasons. I do not think any founder has ever faced the tribulations I faced on my last couple trips up in these regions but in light of things I pulled it off.
 
There was a lot of rumors spread around that I was dead, that I was not going to make it through, etc when will some of you learn that I have a destiny to fulfill its not my time believe me when I say this. Some of you should be ashamed of yourself for the lack of support you show. Actually the story of this investigation is that despite the great things I can do very few people have faith in me and chances I hate being under estimated when you see the updates you will understand how much I battled and I only do it for one reason and this is for the very few people who care about this organization and our paranormal family.
 
I am pretty banged up my friend who picked me up from the airport could not believe all the cuts on my hands and bruises. It was a hard trip cause I had to do these caves with a bad knee thankfully all the hiking up in the mountains with my brace actually strengthened the sprain so It healed quite nicely.
 
First and foremost I want to take the time to thank Jim for picking me up from the airport getting the hotel for me and showing me some new places. He is a very nice guy and if I lived closer I am sure him and I would be hanging out all the time together. When your friends with someone for as long as 5 years you sort of think of them as family so of course I would do the same for him as he did for me this past week. Id also like to thank Cher for have a nice roast and meal for me when I arrived in the town of Warren Pennsylvania. The one thing I love to do more then anything is eat now lets hope the girl I find down the road to be my twin flame can cook just as good lol.
 
That is what this group is about making new friends, getting together checking out places, having fun, and sharing stories. I will continue to keep it a family orientated atmosphere and well considering I gone out of state 4 times in one year you can definitely see this organization has expanded. I may consider in about 3 months again visiting somewhere not sure where yet talks of New Jersey, Texas, Tennessee etc are in the works. It just depends on who really wants to do investigations with me, if you have places worth checking out, and if you can offer me somewhat of a place to sleep and eat at. Its never easy for me to travel but being gone for 6 days just shows you how passionate I am about the work that we do.
 
Going up to NY was basically to finish the job well enough that Kitt gave me a video interview inside and we will share that eventually. We took a lot of investigation photos as we toured..the Great Iroquois Catacombs & Caverns,Warren State Hospital Cemetery Chapman Dam, Claredon Hills, Kinzua Area (Upper Reservoir, Rim Rock, Devil's Elbow, Jake's Rocks) Hermit's Den, Marshburg Cemetery, Kinzua Heights, Kissing Bridge, Old Waterford Cemetery, The Eating Fields, Lenhart Cemetery, Historical Warren, Hearts Content, Big Bend & The Giants Cave, Counterfeiter's Den, Warren Oakland Cemetery, Oakland Potters Field & Warren State Hospital.
 
Now not every place your going to see paranormal evidence basically I toured these areas basically to bring you a few untold stories and expose certain cover ups that the locals do not wish to talk about. I personally hope by sharing these others will visit these places and that is very rare coming from me so you will enjoy the updates once they are up on the site. So basically we brought you 16 new places and returned some old favorite spots. Most of them were very successful investigations we had a few mishaps which Ill get into later in the report.
 
But I do think these investigations and sharing my story will benefit our group. I want others to keep in mind such as those that donated the work that has gone on here. Between the research, hiking, investigations, traveling, etc I told Jim before I left for home that I could not believe that I went through every piece of clothing and equipment for this trip 3 bags worth lol. Cher told me it must be hard to climb the mountains with all this gear but when you do this long enough you learn to utilize your supplies and I always bring enough for my investigators/friends to use.
 
I think these investigations are going to make all these other groups up north who demeaned us look pretty bad trust me when I say this I went up north to kick ass and that is what I did. I did come close to death a few times it was very dangerous in general being the ground is wet, full of leaves, snow, ice etc sometimes one wrong slip can be your last in bigfoot country. We started off in the Great Iroquois Catacombs & Caves returning a month later to conduct our 3rd investigation.
 
Great Iroquois Catacombs & Caves Investigation 3
 
I do not know what else to say accept that it was a hell of a trip. My hair was blue for the caves that way if I got lost someone could find me lol. I want to thank my main man Matt for taking me to the airport at 3 in the morning.  My flight in was okay a lot of turbulence up in Buffalo as we went into a snow storm. I got off the plane Jim was there we ran into eachother then we went to go pick up Kitt.
 
It was a long ride out to them and we stopped for lunch to meet with Mick and Rich. Now Rich has been on the group for a very long time Id say a few years so it was great meeting him. Again that is what this is all about is making new friends and sharing these experiences together. He is a pretty nice guy and helped us out a lot.
 
We all had lunch together then Jim dropped us off at the drop off point. We hiked in the woods deep the snow was coming down thick and hard. There was a couple inches on the ground and we came up to an old foundation along with some cliffs. We took a few photos then we went down a very steep slope so I could get more photos of rock formations.
 
We spent over an hour hiking and it took a little getting use to this cause I had not been in snow for a few years but I think I led the expedition well in the woods. We were pretty amazed with the area lots of trails we took and at that time my boots were somewhat wet inside so I thought great wet feet and cave here we come.
 
We arrived at the entrance and took some photos. Kitt and I were very excited as I am sure Rich was too. This is something we worked at it was not a walk in the park we hiked for awhile in those woods. At this point we talked awhile took a break had a drink some snacks then I sent a text message for safety and we entered.
 
Being inside was a whole different world it was so dark inside and we only went a few feet. The area opened up it was a cavern of sorts very man made some of it natural. There is actually 5 entrances in the area if you remember one of them we entered was one of them on our first investigation. This one area however was much larger and much more deadly.
 
The canopy to the caves was very week in some areas trust me I know cause I climbed in some holes so small seen the broken ceilings up close and personal. When we go in the place we go in all the way its not a half ass adventure so my plans were to explore every ounce of this place and trust me we did we pulled it off.
 
For awhile hiking through the various tunnels and caverns I thought about marking my territory but I gambled I do a lot of gambling most of the time I win. I figured it like this it would be more fun to just explore it naturally if I had to get help Jim was at the hotel so at least I had it if needed to be.
 
We got in deep starting our rock climbing came across a helmet on a stone. Off in the distance it looked like a person standing there Kitt lost some lives their lol. We hiked past it and went all the way to the back went down some steep boulders and came back out at the main entrance. I almost laughed cause I thought hell to myself people say this place is a maze. I found the entrance a half hour later without even a sweat.
 
But that was okay cause what I did was took the cavern section by section the north side was done and central cavern area. There was strange areas like a pile of dirt, old mining tools we found, some beer bottles etc not many know about this place but you will never be able to stop the serious spelunkers who can appreciate the hollow earth like myself. Kitt brought with him a lot of special gear for the trip without it most people would be doomed.
 
We got some fresh air then headed out to the left of the entrance which was very treacherous a lot of climbing into small little rooms. Now keep in mind I almost am carrying 50 lbs on my back and sometimes the backpack was so large it would not fit in some of the areas we squeezed into. At this point we were on our hands knees covered in guano and mud. This is the penalty of any cavern.
 
I kept climbing deeper into various rooms and we reached an area that was a bat cavern. There were hundreds of bats some of them had ice hanging off of them and a half hour later those babies would be waking up to feast. The room we were in was damp and the bats had sharp teeth on them. I knocked one down by accident off the ceiling and injured him sorry bat I still care lol. Actually I love bats and have great respect for them.
 
We worked our way into a dead end room most areas were dead ends eventually and some holes we squeezed in brought us back to the main cavern. One rock was taller then us we had to climb sometimes we would leave our bags there and go a hundred feet in take a peak then come back. We found a dead rat in this one area it was pretty gross and large tail hanging over the rock. I should have taken a photo but I was to busy paying attention to other things going on.
 
I heard what sounded like Indian chanting inside the cave, mumbling, and even conversations. A lot of times I did not say a word to the guys cause I wanted to see if they would say anything. Sure enough Rich caught onto to a lot of the noises some you can explain as water others are clear as daylight.
 
We were not alone in here something ghostly was lurking as a psychic and investigator I can tell you that what was in there with us was not to nice. It was not evil but it was not nice either. I felt it watching us from behind some of the deeper parts of the cavern. It was following believe me. I sat in the dark the guys were in another chamber and I shut off my lights 10 mins alone in the dark. Something was moving in close just a tunnel away.
 
Also let me mention that Kitt found a candle and tuna can earlier when we first entered later on we found the candle burned down and can moved. So I can only speculate something was in here with us do not think it was humans though only cause we had enough light in that cave to light up an auditorium seriously. There also was a lone tunnel back in here and it was full of water we did not take it but it went back very far look like it dead ended according to Kitt so we took it back to the main part of the cavern.
 
Our final site to explore was our right side of the cave entrance. This area was my favorite it literally took us a long time to gather data here. But we followed a tunnel and squeeze out over a hill of rocks which opened up to a big empty room that twisted and turned. It went on for awhile and dead ended at a river I shined my light for a long ways it went but again it looked like a dead end so we did not trample through the icy water.
 
I tried to follow this river by rock climbing and eventually we came to a cavern filled with a lot of water. It was like a lake back there and it was waste deep. Its possible there is more to see but at this point our priority was keeping dry and keeping the equipment free of moisture unlike last time we were in water past our waist.
 
We had to across another channel of water and we ended up walking in knee deep water eventually but it had to be done cause we had a whole other area across the water to explore. We took a break on a rock I had something to drink and Kitt ate a little something. We took our time no rush it was a warm 55 degrees in the cave the water was a little chilly till we got use to it and at this point we would be going through water on and off for awhile.
 
Kitt and I found a giant hole in the wall which led to an area we already been to this is one of the spots I had an interview. I did not realize it but banging my head hard caused it to bleed and I did have a cut on my nose as well which was bleeding. I was so excited to explore that I did not care about any of that.
 
We did make it back to the entrance and ended up coming out a different cave entrance. We had an option to go home but I had us go back in one last time to take a look at the helmet on the rock well we could not find it and there was a rock we found earlier and thought it was the same one the helmet was on. So at this point we noticed the helmet was gone and at this point we were tired since this investigation was on our 8th hour.
 
We exited the cave and it was a long hike to the car it was so cold outside and we were soak and wet shivering. We did walk through areas with a lot of water and we noticed cause of the snow outside it was causing the cave to somehow fill with water at a high speed rate so its good we got out of there when we did.
 
In conclusion we explored the entire cave except for two areas with higher then knees water which looked like dead ends anyway's. So it turned out this place is very big but it does not go on for miles at one point it may have but parts of it are sealed up just like the other cavern we went in our first time was a totally different area meaning one was natural one was man made. The natural one we could not get into so I could not get any Indian pictographs.
 
We got back to the car Rich dropped us off at the hotel I spent the night sleeping on a window sill and I did not care if there was cool air blowing on me or how hard it was I was out for the night early being as exhausted as I was. The next morning Jim and I grabbed breakfast he grabbed a geocache near the hotel I packed the vehicle on up with my gear and we headed down for Pennsylvania.  Caves conquered and anybody who says they are nothing are truly mistaken this is an old place lots of history, ghost, and strange tales.
 
We never once marked our trails here Kitt was amazed on how well my knowledge was on direction and we did try to use a compass at one point which was spinning around like crazy so definitely a strange place. Kitt mentioned to me one of the best days of his life was this investigation and I think a lot of people in Buffalo were very selfish not to help out with this cause we really had an amazing journey within.

The area is full of tunnels, caves, and catacombs. Some will never be accessed cause they are collapsed even for me to get to the Indian pictographs they are from what an old investigator told me miles on in but the part that goes for miles is now blocked off. I really did enjoy this place lots of history and areas to explore. 

I would like to take the time to thank those involved with the expedition all the way from those that helped be a driver, to the group dinners, to the actually investigators for the different investigations inside as well as outside to those that donated funding for this to be possible. Also like to take the time to commend Rich I mean it was his first investigation with the group and it was a very very advanced one he did very well. Kitt as well who has now logged 3 investigations with us so great job guys. 

 I mean alot of people laughed at me and did not believe in me they thought it was funny but this expedition was not a failure by any means and alot of great photos were taken, a few miles of good hiking, good ghost activity, etc Kitt contacted me weeks later and told me that he was pricked by a bush which is said to cause nerve damage so he is having problems in his wrist and hand plus I am still nursing a bad knee from hitting it on a rock hidden in 3 foot water weeks ago. So I have a feeling despite our success on the adventure we both will be feeling this for awhile. 
 
Going back to things Jim and I made our trip down to Warren PA which is right by the Kinzua Dam area full of bigfoot, ghost lore, Indian legends, civil war cemeteries, dancing lights in the sky and vortexes. On the way up to Kinzua Jim showed me the lady surrounded by Glass up in Jamestown. By that time the snow was coming down hard I thought oh crap my week up in the PA mountains is going to have bad weather but as the week went on so did the weather.

From:Richard Chapman
To: ParanormalBuffalo@yahoogroups.com

Nov 3, 2006 4:25 pm

Last night I participated in an investigation in Southern NY caverns with Rick and someone I know as Kitt. I wanted to give my perspective.
    These were very old caverns, hollowed out by mining. These caverns were dripping with water and had pools of water. Large slabs of rocks frequently blocked our path. It was dark and dismal but fairly warm except near the entrance. From my perspective I felt a slight amount of apprehension inside there, and in one place I could not bring myself to go further, largely due to the terrain. I am fairly certain there was someone or something in there with us. Some things had been disturbed, and all of us thought we heard voices. We smelled hydrogen sulfide gas (bad news) and I was certain I smelled a strong tuna like smell. If it were not for the constant dripping, bats and an occasional "popping sound"  it could  have been totally silent in there.
   Bats adorned the ceilings in many places. I marveled at how they could hang upside down on solid rock. We sometimes had to duck to avoid them. Other than that I was not creeped out much. It was a great new experience for me, and well worth the trip.
   That's my perspective. It was slightly creepy, and a whole new experience.

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More Photos & Reports From This Investigation Coming In The Future!